


Thinking with Beca

by becasbelt



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, and they were classmates, pre-pp2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23585089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becasbelt/pseuds/becasbelt
Summary: An idea occurs to Chloe right then, causing an excited smile to stretch across her face. “Hey! What if we took it together?”Beca grins. “That would be fun. We’ve never had a class together before.”OrChloe needs to add another class to her schedule and decides to take one with Beca, which is decidedly not the greatest idea she's ever had.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 24
Kudos: 159





	Thinking with Beca

**Author's Note:**

> The lovely iPhone came up with this brilliant headcanon that Chloe and Beca took a class called "Thinking with Music" together during Beca's third year at Barden, so I decided to write a little something based on that idea.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Why is figuring out schedules so hard?” Chloe asks from her position on Beca’s bed, lying on her stomach in front of her open laptop. It’s mostly a rhetorical question, not something that Chloe is actually looking for an answer to.

Beca, sitting in front of her own computer at her desk, shrugs. “Because school sucks,” she says simply.

Chloe accepts the answer with a light chuckle, still focusing on the list of classes displayed on the screen in front of her. So far her schedule is looking incredibly light; only a couple biology classes along with Russian lit adding up to a total of nine credits. Chloe needed at least twelve to be considered a full-time student. “What classes are you taking next semester, Bec?”

“Uhhh,” Beca drones, clicking over to her own schedule. “English 2010, Intro to Special Relativity, Music Composition, Thinking with Music…” Beca names a few more classes, glancing over her shoulder at Chloe when she’s finished. “Why do you ask?”

“I only have nine credits so far and need three more. I can’t figure out what to take,” Chloe explains distractedly, still perusing the list of classes. “Hey, what’s that Thinking with Music class you’re taking? That sounds interesting.”

Chloe glances up at Beca to see that Beca has turned her chair around to face Chloe. Beca’s cheeks turn red a little when Chloe looks at her, as if she had just been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. “Um, I’m not sure,” Beca says in a rush, clearing her throat and looking away from Chloe. “I think it’s about, like, using music in media or something.”

“Neat,” Chloe replies, nodding her head a little in thought. An idea occurs to Chloe right then, causing an excited smile to stretch across her face. “Hey! What if we took it together?”

Beca grins. “That would be fun. We’ve never had a class together before.”

Chloe types the class into her search bar and hits the 'add course' button as soon as it pops up. “There,” she says with finality, looking up to grin at Beca again. “You’re stuck with me, Mitchell.”

* * *

Beca and Chloe walk into Thinking with Music on the first day of class together, spotting a couple of spots near the back-ish and claiming them as their own. Chloe would have preferred closer to the front, but Beca had been adamant about not sitting close to the professor.

(“No, we can’t sit in the front. He’ll think it’s okay to call on us.”

“You’re such a baby. It’ll be fine.”

“You can sit in the front, then. I’m going to the back where I can stay out of sight.”

“If you weren’t so darn cute your stubbornness might be annoying, you know.”

“Shut up and just come sit with me, Beale.”)

Chloe spends the couple of minutes leading up to the beginning of class pulling out things she might need to take notes while Beca scrolls through Instagram on her phone. And it’s irritating, Chloe thinks- not Beca being on her phone, but how effortlessly _good_ Beca looks just sitting there.

So what if Chloe might think her best friend is a little hot? So what if Chloe might have a little crush on her? And so what if Chloe might feel a little guilty about both those facts?

Whatever. It wasn’t a big deal.

There’s nothing wrong with taking the chance to admire beauty in all forms, after all.

Chloe’s attention is snatched away from Beca at the sound of a door opening. The chatter of the students around Beca and Chloe slowly die out as a tall man with glasses and curly black hair, presumably the professor, makes his way to the front of the room, taking a moment to set down his bags along the way.

Beca is still focused on her phone, fingers typing away as she texts Jesse. Chloe’s eyes narrow slightly and she nudges Beca, gesturing towards the front of the class. Beca responds with a roll of her eyes, but shuts her phone off, setting it down on the desk in front of her.

The professor stands in front of the class, waiting until it is completely silent before speaking. “Good morning everyone. I am Dr. Dunmore, and this is Thinking with Music. If you are in the wrong class, feel free to take your leave now,” he starts off, eyes scanning the room as he talks. He pauses for a moment, waiting for any poor souls to rise from their seats, and nods once when no one does so. “Alright, good. To start things off, I need a definition for what music is. Who thinks they have a good definition?”

The class remains despondent for a moment, everyone too nervous to share their answer. Chloe racks her own brain, trying to put together her own definition, when Beca surprises her and slowly puts her hand up in the air.

Dr. Dunmore gestures to Beca. “Let’s hear what you think music is, then.”

All eyes in the room turn towards Beca, but she does not shy away from the attention. Instead, she sits up taller in her seat, and Chloe is impressed – not for the first time – by the sheer amount of passion that Beca so clearly has for music.

“Music is an art form that combines melody, rhythm, and harmony to create something that is enjoyable to listen to; a form of expression that can mean infinite things to infinite people,” Beca says articulately, almost as if reciting the definition from a textbook. Chloe resists the urge to let her jaw drop to the floor, but does allow a fond smile to cross her face.

What a nerd.

Dr. Dunmore nods his head, contemplating Beca’s answer for a moment. “Interesting, very well put,” he muses.

Beca leans back in her chair, a satisfied grin present on her lips. She glances over at Chloe briefly, so Chloe reaches out and proudly squeezes Beca’s shoulder.

“Unfortunately, that is not exactly correct.”

Chloe and Beca’s attention snaps back to the front of the room where Dr. Dunmore is smirking cockily, a lofty expression on his face. Chloe sees Beca already beginning to get worked up, ready to explode.

Beca takes a calming breath and clenches her jaw.

Chloe gulps nervously and tries not to glare at the professor.

“You see, although that answer might be what we have _traditionally_ associated music with, music is not necessarily that straight-forward,” Dr. Dunmore explains. “In the 20th century, composers stretched the limits as to what music really is. John Cage composed the infamous _4’33,_ which is four minutes and thirty-three seconds of complete silence. It is a real published piece of music, so does that make silence music?”

Beca’s hands tense against her desk.

Dr. Dunmore continues. “How are we to make distinctions between sound and music, or between music and noise? What is _music_?” He pauses for a moment, letting his questions sink in. The class blinks blankly back at Dr. Dunmore in response, unsure if they are actually meant to give an answer. Finally, Dr. Dunmore smiles. “These questions are exactly the kind of topics that we will be discussing in Thinking with Music.”

* * *

“What a load of bullshit!” Are the first words out of Beca’s mouth as soon as Beca and Chloe step out of the classroom. “This class is complete and utter bullshit. Who does he think he is, asking what music _really is_? I _told him_ what music is.”

“I thought your definition was good,” Chloe tries to add helpfully. Beca softens at her words.

“Thanks, Chlo,” she says gently. “That’s because it _was_ good,” is Beca’s grumbled afterthought.

Chloe giggles and reaches down to slip her hand into Beca’s, pulling her down the hallway and out the door of the building. “Maybe the whole class won’t be that bad,” Chloe says optimistically.

Beca glances glumly up at her. “Yeah, sure,” she says, unconvinced.

Chloe admires how cute Beca is when she’s grumpy for a moment before tugging on her hand to guide her in a new direction. “Come on, grumpy pants. I’ll go get you some ice cream to cheer you up.”

Although Beca would deny it if asked, the free ice cream does put her in a better mood.

* * *

Beca decides that the best way to cope with their “evil class” is to completely ignore and disregard everything that Dr. Dunmore talks about, which is no surprise to Chloe, given how she bore witness to Beca doing the exact same thing to Aubrey in her freshman year.

Chloe, on the other hand, actually _wants_ to learn and do well in the class. She also kind of needs to do well to make up for the fact that she has failed Russian lit _twice_ at this point, which has brought her grade point average down as a result.

The only problem is, Chloe has never taken a class with Beca before, and it turns out that Beca can be _really_ distracting if she wants to be. Or, maybe she’s not trying very hard at all and _Chloe_ is the one that is easily distracted…

Either way, Beca is distracting.

The thing is, it’s just so _hard_ for Chloe to pay attention to deep and complex discussion on the boundaries of music when Beca is just sitting there looking like… Well, looking like _Beca._

Chloe often finds herself zoning out during the lecture as she takes the time to trace Beca’s features with her eyes; the piercings in her ear, the cut of her jaw, and the fullness of her lips all contributing to Chloe not registering a single word that comes out of Dr. Dunmore’s mouth.

It’s honestly a stroke of luck that the class is fairly large (about fifty people) and that the rest of the people in it participate. If they didn’t, Dr. Dunmore would probably start calling on people at random and catch Chloe in a moment of complete and utter ignorance as to what was happening in the lecture. Or at the very least catch on to the fact that two girls in the back aren’t paying attention in the slightest.

Beca gets bored seemingly very easily, which means that she’s always coming up with some way to entertain herself, causing even more distraction on Chloe’s part.

One day Beca spends the entire class trying to put together a mix without any volume, only looking at downbeats and changes in texture. Chloe had watched with fascination, which Beca had seemed to pick up on since she kept leaning in towards Chloe as if to include her in her creative process.

(They listened to the mix after class, and although it definitely wasn’t perfect and made Beca’s nose wrinkle in disgust, Chloe had thought it sounded pretty good, considering the circumstances.)

Another day Beca takes Chloe’s hand – well, whole arm, really – captive so that she can draw on the inside of Chloe’s wrist and forearm. She decorates Chloe’s arm with a variety of designs: headphones like the tattoo on her own wrist (“so that we match”), a poorly-drawn ladybug (“so your other one has a friend”), a barcode (“it’s not a barcode, they’re just random lines”), and lastly a simple BM + CB.

(Chloe’s heart had skipped a beat at that last one, though Beca didn’t comment on it like she did the rest of them.)

By the time spring break rolls around, Chloe realizes that she’s learned little to nothing in their Thinking with Music class, which means her grades are slipping as a result.

Beca and Chloe are walking around the mall near Barden one Saturday after Bellas rehearsal when Chloe gets an email informing her that the deadline for applying for pass/fail is next week. The information makes Chloe take pause in the Bath & Body Works store they are currently perusing.

“Hey Bec, are you doing pass/fail for any of your classes?” Chloe asks, still skimming lightly through the email on her phone.

Beca shrugs as she takes her time smelling the various perfumes on display. “I don't know yet. Maybe Thinking with Music since my grade is awful in it.”

Chloe nods her head in agreement. “Same,” she says, tucking her phone in her back pocket.

“Hey, isn’t this the perfume you wear?” Beca asks suddenly, holding up a bottle of perfume to Chloe.

Chloe’s eyebrows draw together as she reads the label, surprised that Beca knows what perfume she wears. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Beca says absentmindedly. She studies the bottle for another moment before placing it back on the shelf. “Smells nice.”

* * *

“How’s your class with Beca going?” Aubrey asks Chloe over Skype one night.

Chloe smirks and glances up at where Beca is sitting on the opposite end of the couch. “It’s… fine. Beca hates it because the professor is all hoity toity about everything we talk about.”

Beca looks up at her name. “What about Beca?” she questions suspiciously.

Chloe pulls her headphones out of her computer so Beca can hear Aubrey. “Aubrey’s asking about our Thinking with Music class. Have any thoughts you want to share?”

“You know damn well I have some thoughts about that joke of a class,” Beca grumbles, pushing herself up from her seat and relocating herself next to Chloe on the couch. They have to squeeze in together to both be visible on the screen, but Chloe doesn’t mind one bit. “The teacher could probably give you a run for your ‘most unlikable person ever’ title, Aubrey.”

Aubrey rolls her eyes, though the amusement in the action is clear. “Oh ha-ha, Beca. Do you want to rant about this class or not? I’m sure Chloe’s heard it all by now, so this is your chance to get it all out.”

Beca pouts a little, sinking further into Chloe’s side. “Yeah, I wanna rant,” she admits. Chloe smiles at her, but schools her expression upon seeing the teasing look that Aubrey directs at her. Beca takes a deep breath before speaking. “Okay, so what’s your definition of music?”

* * *

On the last day of Thinking with Music, Beca is practically buzzing with excitement. Chloe doesn’t blame her; she’s pretty ready to be done with the class as well. The way that Beca keeps checking her phone for the time is making Chloe feel anxious, though.

Chloe reaches across the space between them and places her hand over the hand that Beca is clutching her phone in. Beca looks up her with a questioning look.

“Checking the time over and over again isn’t going to make it move any faster, Bec,” she tells her teasingly.

Beca grins sheepishly and places her phone face-down on her desk, sliding it to the corner so that it is out of the way. Before Chloe can pull her hand away, Beca starts playing with her fingers, apparently content to switch her restless energy over to them. Chloe fights to keep the smile off her face as she pretends to listen to Dr. Dunmore give his final thoughts, but there is no stopping the light blush that appears on her cheeks.

As soon as Dr. Dunmore dismisses them, Beca is up and out of her seat, pulling Chloe along with her until they’re practically sprinting out the door of the classroom.

“We’re DONE,” Beca all but shouts in victory, shaking their joined hands in excitement. Chloe giggles at Beca’s enthusiasm.

A girl from their class walks up to them at that moment, interrupting Beca’s celebration with a hesitant wave. Chloe greets her with a small “hi” and a smile while Beca just stands there looking surprised that someone is talking to them.

“I just wanted to let you guys know that you’re a super cute couple, and that you made being in that class really entertaining,” the girl tells them sincerely.

Beca looks like she’s about to correct her, but Chloe jumps in before she can do so. “Thanks! I’m glad you think so!” she says brightly, waving goodbye to the girl before pulling Beca away.

“Dude, we aren’t dating,” Beca says quietly once they’ve obtained some distance from the girl. Chloe shrugs nonchalantly but drops Beca’s hand.

“I didn’t want her to feel awkward by telling her she was wrong,” Chloe explains breezily, trying not to meet Beca’s eyes. Beca apparently accepts the answer without further question and the two of them start making their way to the Bellas house.

Beca speaks up again about a minute later. “She really thought we looked cute together?”

Chloe looks at Beca in surprise, but quickly covers up her shock with a cocky raise of her eyebrow. “Of course she thought we were cute; have you _seen_ us?”

Beca just grins and reaches down to lace their fingers together. “Yeah, I definitely have.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought, and feel free to follow me on tumblr at becasbelt!
> 
> Thanks for reading and wash your hands!


End file.
